H-1B Employees

Please inform The Office for International Services as soon as possible if you will need assistance obtaining work authorization or if you will need to change your status.

Learn more about the H-1B visa process and status on our H-1B home page before you proceed.

The Process

• The Office for International Services (OIS) receives a copy of the signed employment contract for the new foreign national hire.
• The new hire completes the New Employee Questionnaire.
• OIS reviews the questionnaire to assess if H-1B status is appropriate.
• If OIS determines an H-1B visa is appropriate, OIS will recommend the new hire complete the H-1B Application.
• OIS then reviews the completed application and prepares the H-1B visa filing on behalf of the employee.
• OIS will notify the employee once the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached a decision (adjudicated) on their H-1B visa petition.

Processing Time

• After the submission of the H-1B Application, the preparation of an H-1B filing can take between 2 and 3 weeks to complete.
• A decision from USCIS using normal H1B petition processing can take up to several months.
• Premium Processing enables petitioners to expedite the adjudication of the H-1B petition by paying an additional filing fee. Fordham University will only cover this optional premium processing fee if it serves the University's interests.

Notes

• The University bears the cost of filings for the principal beneficiary only (the employee). Any required fees for spouses and dependents are the responsibility of the employee.
• Upon submission of the H-1B petition, if you are in the U.S., you should not depart the U.S. for any reason. If you leave the U.S. while the petition is pending, the petition may be deemed “abandoned,” leading to its cancellation by USCIS. If you need to travel internationally while your petition is pending with USCIS, you must notify OIS in advance.